Site menu:

 

Sarah Carlisle Towery Art Colony at Children's Harbor on Lake Martin

 

September 28th - October 3rd 2012

 

Jean Chambers & Tom Black

plus an Independent Study Studio

 




Jean Chambers



Jean Chambers grew up on a farm in Alabama and showed a strong interest in drawing and painting as a child, but she took a circuitous route, via the architectural field, to find her career in fine art. On business trips, she began visiting museums and art galleries, which was the roadmap toward her artistic journey. She developed an innate ability to visually dissect a painting, study the integral parts that make up the whole, and gain a sound understanding of the techniques used to build the work. She is an avid student of her craft and enjoys finding differences and similarities in various works of art. She says, “I love the work of Rembrandt, Sargent and Richard Schmid and even though each has his own style, I find strong similarities in their handling of light, color, values and edges.”

Chambers quest for artistic excellence took her to Europe to study the works of the Old Masters. In England, she quickly mastered the train and subway systems and explored the countryside, visiting old churches. “The first church I painted was St John Baptist Church in Chelveston, home to a
plaque dedicated to the 8th US Air Force who helped with its’ rebuilding during World War II. The connection with our servicemen, plus the beauty of the church and cemetery led me to paint it”, she says. She visited the Wallace Collection, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and spent time at the
American School of Design studying design and color theory. Among her favorite sites in Paris were the Louvre, Orsay Museum, Picasso Museum, Versailles, and the Hill at Montmartre. She says, “This hill is the highest point in Paris, where artists still paint today, and my thoughts kept returning to the many artists who lived a bohemian-style life there in the early 20th century; Monet, Picasso, Renoir,Van Gogh and others”. Returning home, she resumed her study of the works of modern day mastersand began taking workshops with respected artists, a practice that she still continues.

Throughout her continuing studies she remains faithful to her own art and has developed a style that is uniquely her own. Her high key palette, skill-based experience, expert paint manipulation and meticulous attention to accuracy, create an inner luminosity and surface tension on her canvas that is the trademark of a Chambers’ painting. Her work has earned many awards, including Signature Membership in Oil Painters of America, and is highly sought by collectors in this country and abroad. Jean has been featured in Art of the West and Southwest Art magazines. Her work is also included in the McCloy collection, “Patron Without Peers”.

Chambers relocated in 2001 from her home/studio on a farm in northern Alabama, ending an 8-year period of rigid self-training, to a ranch near Hereford, Arizona where she became actively involved in instructing aspiring artists in the local area. She is now a sought-after instructor at The Scottsdale Artists’ School, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Fredericksburg Artists’ School in Fredericksburg, Texas, as well as venues in other locations. Her reputation as an outstanding instructor fills her workshops.
Jean has 3 successful instructional art videos on the market produced and marketed by Liliedahl Video Productions. The first video, In a Timely Manner, was released in July, 2007 to great reviews and it remains very popular. She says she finds teaching others very rewarding and enjoys immensely watching students mature and blossom in the learning process. In addition, she says that teaching is a great learning tool for her. Her first mentoring type workshop, held in January 2008, was acclaimed a success. She enjoys this format in which she paints alongside professional artists and advanced students daily and ends each day with critiques of the student’s paintings but her real joy is helping students get started on the right track or helping students who have not had good instruction find their
way again.

 http://www.jeanchambers.com
Tom Black



He grew up in a rural area near Gadsden, Alabama. He was interested in art but never had the opportunity to study it in school. He was fascinated with science and says that art is 90% science so maybe all his study of that subject helps in his art career.

He spent many years traveling the world and studied in all the major museums, has amassed a large collection of art books and study material including workshops from other artists.

He recently moved from a farm in Alabama to a southern Arizona ranch where he is renovating an old horse barn for use as a studio.

Tom worked in Avionics before becoming an artist. While his house was being built, he saw an artist/builder do a watercolor and said to
himself, “I can do that!” and he did. The first few years of his art career were spent doing watercolors with wildlife, hunting dogs and
hunting scenes as this subject because those were things familiar to him. He became known for this type work and had some serious collectors buying everything he painted. Next, he decided to tackle oil paint. It did not take long before he was hooked on this medium and turned to still life painting.

Black’s paintings remind us of the old masters. Some look like they must have been stored in a dusty old museum for centuries while others
are playful and spontaneous His work has that timeless quality and on close examination, there is no weakness to be found. He is a master with his brushes. He has been known to say that he is a value painter and no doubt, he is good with values but edges, color, composition and drawing are all strong points. Much of his most recent work is animals, old trucks, farm houses with a few people thrown in. He approaches his canvas in a direct way, making each stroke count, painting in pieces of paint and leaving much of the block in undisturbed. When he has said
what he wanted to say about the subject, he signs it and that’s it so there is a freshness in the work.

Tom has been making his living as an artist for more than 30 years and is more excited about painting now than ever. Before moving to
Arizona a few years ago, most all his work was sold in the Birmingham, AL area. Now his work can be purchased at www.whistlepik.com and
www.tomblackart.com

In the last 10 years he’s turned to teaching. He enjoys helping students learn to “see” and put down “pieces of paint”. He teaches at Fredericksburg Artists School and has been invited to teach at Scottsdale Artists School. He also has a few private students that see
him once a month. At least once a year he teaches a local workshop for students who are eager to learn. When he moved to Arizona, he co-founded a weekly drawing class and a weekly painting class with live
models that are on going today.

http://tblackart.blogspot.com
You can see Jean’s additonal work at:

http://www.legacygallery.com/gallery_artists/jean_chambers.html
http://www.whistlepik.com/artistworks.php?artistID=1191
http://www.howardmandville.com/Pages/Artist pages/chambers.html
http://www.ponderosaartgallery.com/?page_id=279

 

Painting Studios are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

A $100.00 deposit must be submitted with your registration form.

The balance plus any additional charges is due by August 1, 2012.

If not paid by August 1, 2012 your spot will be given to the next person on the waiting list. Registration fees will not be refunded after September 15, 2012. Registration fees will be refunded on a prorated basis beginning August 2, 2012 until September 15, 2012."Check-in" starts Friday the 30th after 3:30 PM.  

The Art colony must reserve and pay for the entire campus for this event. A flat rate is charged whether or not an artist decides to stay on campus. All rooms have private a bath, twin beds and a sofa. Each cabin has 4 rooms. Please request a roommate. If no request is made a roommate will be assigned. If a participant wishes to request a private room then an additional $40.00 deposit will be required with the registration payment. Private rooms are limited and will be granted on a first come, first serve basis. If all private rooms have been assigned, your $40.00 will be returned to you upon your arrival.